Greetings Michigan Library Community,
Completing projects around the house can be so much easier when you use the right tools. The same goes for research! This week’s MeL Minute will identify a few (sometimes hidden) tools in
MeL that will make research a cinch for library staff, patrons, and students. And stay tuned in July for a MeL Minute on Hidden Searching Tricks in MeLCat!
Gale Database Tools
·
Topic Finder - this is an amazing tool that allows you to
visually see related topics, and can help narrow down to a more specific research topic. This tool can be found in all InfoTrac databases, as well as
Opposing Viewpoints in Context. For more information about Topic Finder, you can watch the short
video or read over the
Gale Periodical Collections Resource Guide and the
Opposing Viewpoints Resource Guide.
·
Highlights and Notes - In any of the Gale databases, researchers can highlight sections of text in an article, add notes and then download to save. Watch
the highlights and notes video for more info.
·
Create a Search Alert - InfoTrac periodical eResources provide Search Alerts to let you know when new articles that match your search are added. Here is
a
Create a Search Alert Tip Sheet for more information.
·
Help With Research and Reports - The
Elementary Students and
Middle and High School Students web pages link you to multiple “How To” tip sheets and worksheets that not only will K-12/College students appreciate, but many adults may find the tips quite helpful as well!
Britannica School
·
Britannica School is not just an encyclopedia! It also includes access to over 400,000 periodical articles and over 100,000 photos and images. And it includes a step-by-step research planner and How To
guides for book reviews, presentations, research papers and science reports. To access these, click on “Students” in the top right page in either
Britannica Middle or
Britannica High.
More MeL Tools
If you are looking for even more tools than what could be listed in this MeL Minute, then check out
More MeL Tools for Researchers (http://bit.ly/MoreMeLTools).
Brought
to you by the MeL Team.
MeL databases are available to Michigan residents or Michigan library access only.
Want more information on MeL? Stay tuned for the next MeL Minute available on many Michigan library listservs, email us at contact@mel.org,
visit http://mel.org, or sign up for the MeL Minute and other Library of Michigan e-mail lists via
GovDelivery. We encourage you to share MeL Minutes with your colleagues and networks.
#IMLSGrant
Sonya Schryer Norris
Library Consultant
Library of Michigan
702 W. Kalamazoo St.
Lansing, MI 48909
517-373-4457
https://michigan.gov/libraryofmichigan
Our collective efforts can help make Michigan a Top 10 education state in 10 years! Here are the goals and strategies:
http://mi.gov/top10in10/
